USS Milwaukee Towed to Port With Barely Any Mileage on It

The new Navy combat ship USS Milwaukee, not even a month old, needed a tow for more than 40 nautical miles to a U.S. port after it broke down while sailing from Canada to Florida.

The ship was crippled by, in military-speak, "an engineering casualty" while en route from Halifax, said the Navy Times, and was eventually towed to the Joint Expeditionary Base in Little Creek, Virginia.

The ship had just been commissioned on Nov. 21 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

"Reporting of a complete loss of propulsion on USS Milwaukee is deeply alarming, particularly given this ship was commissioned just 20 days ago," said U.S. Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"U.S. Navy ships are built with redundant systems to enable continued operation in the event of an engineering casualty, which makes this incident very concerning. I expect the Navy to conduct a thorough investigation into the root causes of this failure, hold individuals accountable as appropriate, and keep the Senate Armed Services Committee informed."

The breakdown is the latest criticism of ships similar to the $437 million USS Milwaukee, according to the Miltary.com. Critics have charged that the Milwaukee and other new littoral combat ships have not shown the ability to quickly swap out combat modules for missions as promised.

Being able have such interchangeable modules, including the ability to search for underwater mines and engaging in battle with other ships, are supposed to make the vessels more versatile.

Lockheed Martin Corp., through Marinette Marine, has built three ships in that class for the Navy – the USS Freedom, USS Fort Worth and the Milwaukee. Marinette is working on six more warships that are now in various stages of construction.

The crew of the Milwaukee had been touted in October in a Navy news release as the "Juggernauts" because of their previous experience on the USS Fort Worth.

"This crew has been tested and we have risen up and met every challenge successfully, both on Fort Worth and Milwaukee," Lt. Paul Richardson, the USS Milwaukee's operations officer had said. "No matter what is thrown their way, they find a way to succeed."